And The Hero Will Drown
by Chiiharu
Summary: Written for KO and Tomoyo's End Of The World Competition. Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer? Ichigo, Miwa and Moe decide to check out a mysterious house on the night of Halloween. Horror/Mystery.


**A/N:** I'm back! And it feels like ages, doesn't it? Well, no one can really kill the competitive person inside of me, can they? This story is exactly 4,543 words without A/Ns. XD So take that, John McCain! XD This is for KO and Tomoyo's End Of The World Competition. And you know what?

I don't care what anyone says. The word count was the hardest thing in this... thing! Who wants to be restricted to 5,000 words? That's like telling someone you can't eat. For days. Because you purged at the picnic you were at the other day. But for me, it was like ripping off my wings. In a... very violent, bloody way.

*whispers* Everyone! Guitar Hero 5 is out today. Anyone wanna play with me? XD And you know what? It's September 1st, right? I actually really want to dedicate this to someone. Hello, mother. XD Today was the day she took my siblings and I back to our dad's house. You know how long it's been? Seven years. No, eight. XD

And you want to know why I don't write nice things. :P

Oh, yeah. XD Guys. There's a Super Smash Brother's Brawl reference in here. If you get it right... you get a cookie. XD

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**-: And The Hero Will Drown :-**

_Swim in the smoke, _

_The hero will drown_

_intoxicating beauty tears everything down._

_But still our hands bound at the wrist_

_This romantic tragedy is suffocating from your fist, in a sea of fire._

--Story Of The Year - "And The Hero Will Drown"

There was a beast standing right next to her.

It was short and grizzly-looking, the hair on its head unkempt and its clothing tattered and ripped. Ichigo tried not to pay any attention to the monster standing less than a few centimeters away from her. To her left—through the corner of her eye—she could see a demon. Its red skin looked leathery, and its scarlet eyes gleamed with a mischievous flare. It was an anxious little thing, holding a bad in its hand. Ichigo jumped a bit as it ran straight past her.

She pouted somewhat before she slowed down walking. The wind was fishtailed around her, sending a storm of orange, yellow, red, and brown crumbling leaves whirling thought the air. She was trying to hide her fear of all thing related to ghosts. Ichigo glanced into the sky, catching a quick glance of the stars before misty clouds shrouded them. It was dark outside without them. Ichigo was starting to question why she was even outside.

Halloween. How she hated it.

Every year—every single year—things that scared her surrounded her on Halloween. Monsters in general, scary movies, ghost scared her and for some reason, the Chimera Anima around Halloween time seemed to be even fiercer, more vicious. It was bad enough that Chimera Anima had to be scary every time she saw one. This was the one day when Ichigo _wanted _to work.

Zakuro was doing a Halloween photo-shoot, Pudding was at a party, Minto had a ballet to do, and Lettuce was doing what Ichigo was thinking of doing—relaxing at home. The cafe was closed, anyway. She came outside dressed normally, much to her friends' disapproval.

"Ichigo, are you going to walk with us?" Miwa asked. Miwa wore a blue brocade tiered dress with sheer sleeves, a cape, and a crown headband, her blond hair lay gracefully on her shoulders. It took Ichigo a second to register what Miwa said, but once she figured out what Miwa was asking, she smiled sweetly, clasping her hands together to hide her anxiety. Standing next to Miwa was Moe, who was dressed as a midnight fairy. She wore a black dress that stopped towards her knees, a black wand in her hands, wings, and shoulder tatters. Her blonde hair was pulled into two pigtails, and she was waving her hands frantically to grab Ichigo's attention.

"Are you coming or not, Ichigo! Hurry, I hear the next house is a real scare!" Moe shouted, causing Ichigo to flinch in fear.

"Scare?" Ichigo said, almost incoherently. "Haven't we had enough scares for one day, huh?" She paused, scratching the back of her head. "Ah, ha-ha, let's just go home!" Ichigo inhaled sharply, knowing full well that her friends would drag her wherever they wanted to go. All Ichigo really wanted was to go home. Ichigo let out a forced chuckle as Moe walked towards Ichigo and grabbed her arm, dragging her to where Miwa stood.

"Well, if you're not going to walk, I'm still going to show you where we are going," Moe paused, pointing towards a rickety grey house covered in long, green vines. At first glance, Ichigo let out a high-pitched scream. It was if the house was made to be creepy—the leaves were placed strategically next to each other in a straight line, leading up to the door. Cobwebs blocked the entrance to the door, and it had this strange air around it. Ichigo closed her eyes tightly before flailing around.

"Please, please, _please_! Miwa! Moe! Don't go in there! There's no telling what could happen to us! I'm afraid of spooky things like this!"

Concerned, Miwa's eyes softened. "She doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to, Moe…"

"Nonsense!" Moe declared, throwing her left hand into the air. Ichigo opened her eyes again and peered at the sketchy house once more. Standing in front of the door was a man wearing a long, drop sleeve vest with a stand-up collar. He stared idly at Ichigo, his hands slightly raised up into the air. Since the house was so far away, the man was blurry to Ichigo, but his brown eyes stood out. Ichigo blinked once from confusion, and the man disappeared, a trail of multi-colored leaves blowing in a circular motion was left in the place where he stood. Ichigo looked at the trees in front of his house, all of them riddled with toilet paper.

"Ichigo, there's this house… and inside this house lives some old guy. But they say he's half-sprit!" Moe said, in a whisper, twirling her wand.

"H-half s-spirit?" Ichigo stuttered, trying to break the grip Moe had on her arm. Miwa nodded, wanting to resume where Moe had left off.

"Right, Ichigo," Miwa said, nodding her head. "They say that today he sleeps, and there's unlimited candy and treasures for anyone brave enough to go into the house and find it! But if we're ever going to do it, we need your help! You want candy, don't you? I feel kind of sad knowing that you don't have anything to take home with you. It's your day off, and I think you deserve something sweet."

"But you want to know what the weirdest part of all of this is, Ichigo?" Moe interrupted. "There's this family that lives there. Like, _lives _there. But they take a week vacation from the place, and I guess the old guy watches the house or something? Whatever the case is, we need to scope it out! Maybe you can get something for Masaya!" Ichigo turned three shades of red, causing Moe to let go of her arm.

"Don't bring Masaya into all of this!" Ichigo said with fear shaking her voice. Moe raised a brow, amused at her friend's outburst.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate you, like, giving him an ancient artifact or something! I hear he likes antiques, Ichigo," she paused, smirking a bit at Ichigo's now crimson cheeks. "I still feel like we should investigate! Let's have a real scare! See, even Miwa's not afraid! Right, Miwa?" Miwa smiled as Ichigo sighed in defeat, pouting a little.

"Fine," Ichigo said, frowning. "So we're just going in and coming out, r-right?" With that said, Ichigo started to walk towards the house with Miwa and Moe, a bit hesitantly. Did she _know_ the man had been standing in front of the house? Was he even real, or was she just seeing things? Why didn't Miwa and Moe see him? Once the trio stopped at the door, Moe's grip tightened on her wand, and gently—with light strokes of her wrist—she knocked the cobwebs away. The wind was now blowing more fiercely, nearly knocking Ichigo off her feet.

"You're doing so well, Ichigo-chan!" Miwa smiled, clasping her hands together and tilting her head a bit. Ichigo nodded hesitantly.

"Y-yeah, w-well, y-you k-know… I'm trying my best…" Ichigo stammered. Moe shook her wand a bit and picked the cobwebs off it with her thumb and index finger. She grabbed the doorknob playfully and started turning it, but unfortunately, the door was either jammed, or locked. Ichigo smiled and shook her head, her red hair blowing in multiple directions. "Yes! Okay! Time to go home now! I'm sure our parents are worried about—"

She was cut off by the sound of Moe dropping her wand. To Ichigo, that sound was earsplitting, loud enough to make her jump. "Don't worry, Ichigo," Moe assured her. "It seems weak enough to break down. Though, I'm not strong enough to take down a whole door, so I'll need you and Miwa to help me knock it down." Moe giggled as she looked at Ichigo with a mischievous grin on her face.

"But isn't that illegal?!" Ichigo screeched, taking one step back. "Who'll put it back up?!" Moe arched an eyebrow and paced a few steps back.

"You're not too sure about a lot of things, remember, Ichigo?" Moe shot, getting a little irritated by Ichigo's reluctance. "Look, I'm not even serious. I'm just joking. There's no way we'd actually go in there unless we were invited." Ichigo found her eyes trailing towards the egg blotches on the house's windows. She inhaled sharply again as she closed her eyes. At least she knew they were kidding.

"So we can go home now?"

"Yep." the two girls chimed. "Now come on Ichigo! Let's get away from here." Ichigo was about to start walking before she felt a cold chill run up her spine. It felt like something was crawling on her back. She tried to ignore it, but a sharp pain rang throughout her body. Her first thought was to run like hell.

"_Nyaaaa_—!"

Ichigo reacted quickly to the pain she was feeling and, unfortunately, ran towards the door at full speed. The door came down with a giant thud, and Ichigo found herself trying to nurse her head back to heath. Once she got up off the ground, Miwa and Moe slowly walked over to the injured Ichigo.

Due to Ichigo's heightened sense of smell, she was able to get a whiff of something murky and burning candels, even though she did not see any lights in the house. She was shaking in fear as she followed Miwa and Moe into the house. However, after setting both feet into the house, Ichigo quickly ran back outside.

"Okay you guys," Ichigo started. "It was great playing and all, but we've really got to bail! I didn't mean to knock that down—"

"Hey, look you guys!" Miwa exclaimed, pointing down the hallway. The floor was riddled with dust, and antique paintings decorated the walls. The pictures varied showed all sorts of things… Some were of people, other of cars, still others of sundry items. Ichigo let out a few coughs as her friends began to walk down the lengthy hallway. "I don't believe it," Miwa whispered. "This place is so dirty… there's no way people had to have been living here. I don't think this place has been clean in years…"

"I agree, Miwa," Moe said, looking at the many pictures she was passing. "But I've seen people walk in and out of here with my own eyes. This is starting to get interesting! I wonder what we'll find in here! Don't you, Ichigo?"

"Waaah, Moe, I just want to go home!" Ichigo sighed. "How long do you think we're staying in here?" Suddenly, the lights in the hallway started to flicker on and off, sending a chilling shiver down Ichigo's spine. The trio stopped, Moe and Miwa squeezed Ichigo. "What was th-th-that?!" Ichigo said, bringing her hand up to her mouth. Before anyone got a chance to answer, the sound of a door closing rang throughout the room.

"I'm seriously scared now!" Ichigo shrieked. "Nyaaa! Why did I let you guys drag me here?"

Miwa, who had stepped away from the other two girls, extended her hand, her eyes devoid of emotion. She looked like she did not want to move, but was _forced_ to. "I want you to feel pain. To know pain. To breathe pain. To know the pain you put others through." Ichigo blinked for ten seconds before walking up to Miwa and grabbing her shoulders.

"This isn't funny, Miwa! Stop playing, guys! Nyaaa, can we go home already? Okay, you guys got me! Let's go home!" Ichigo pleaded, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Miwa, I'd never expect something like this from you! You guys are taking this too far!" Ichigo looked behind her to make sure Moe was not doing anything suspicious, but Moe was not there anymore. Ichigo gaped in confusion, touching her forehead with her hand.

"C'mon Ichigo! We're going to miss all the good stuff!" Moe shouted. Ichigo quickly turned around to see not only Moe in front of her, but Miwa as well. She frantically turned to see if the door was knocked off its hinges. The wooden door still lay on the ground, making Ichigo wonder what exactly happened. Now she was suspicious. This could not have all been her imagination. Her heart was beating loudly, as if it were trying to escape her body. She needed to do something. Ichigo just could not have left her friends in this house. There was definitely something suspicious about this place. But would they listen to her?

"Ichigo! We're going to check this place out! You can catch up with us if you want!"

Ichigo turned around at the sound of Moe's voice, even though she couldn't see her anymore. The red-head clutched her pendant. It was the best thing to do right now. Something… or someone had to have been behind all the weird stuff that had been going on lately. "Mew Mew Strawberry, Metemorpho-sis," she whispered, turning into her Mew form. "Don't worry Moe! I found a costume, and I just had to try it on," Ichigo yelled, running up the hallway. Even with her cat ears, Ichigo had not heard a response. The hallway started to fade into a bright light, until it eventually dissipated. Now she was not in a house anymore.

She was in some kind of different realm entirely. Ichigo soon found herself looking at a mottled, purple-and-black sky with very little ground. It was almost as if she was floating. Lightning zipped across the sky as she saw her two friends. Miwa and Moe were awestruck, gazing into the sky. "Oh, Ichigo! I see you decided to get into the Halloween spirit, huh?" Moe commented, glancing behind her. "Nice Mew Mew costume… But Ichigo… Where are we?"

"… I have no idea…" Ichigo started, walking around with her head tilted upwards. "This is bad."

"Well… I would not say 'bad'. But you are in Subspace."

All three girls turned around to see a tall, pale looking man with lanky fingers. He wore a drop sleeve vest with a stand-up collar and large leather like lapels. Ichigo remembered the man from earlier. He was the same man that Ichigo had seen earlier. "Who are you?" Ichigo hissed, taking a fighting stance. She had it with people scaring her today.

"You must be th-th-that old man!" Moe asked, terrified. "… So it's true. Y-you sure did s-scare us for a s-second there! You must be d-dedicated to your job, huh? There's no way you could be a _spirit_, r-right?" Moe laughed, extending her hand slowly towards the man. Instead, the male touched his cheek with his gloved hand, looking bored.

"Now, now, Moe. Let's not get too afraid, dear," he said, making the three girls flinch in fear. "Don't ask questions. Do not say anything. Or one of you will die. You all will listen to me, and do everything I say." At this point, all Ichigo could hear in her head were deafening screams of panic and confusion. Should she have tried to take him out? He did not appear to be a Chimera Anima, or an alien. Ichigo thought about pulling out her Strawberry Bell-Bell, but should she show Miwa and Moe her powers? "Let's continue, shall we, girls?" he began, his voice flat. His face showed no emotion. "There is your realm. Then there is mine. Have you girls ever heard of a Subspace Bomb? Well. one detonated in your realm. It detonated right when you all stood outside of the house. I usually keep them caged, but I was sleeping, so you must understand my situation. One managed to get out."

Wanting to talk and wanting to save her friends, Ichigo narrowed her eyes at the man. The man started to leisurely walk around, eyeing each girl accordingly. "Ironic. This is the only day a bomb could possibly slip out of my realm." He paused, letting out a sigh. "I've been sleeping all this time. How troublesome to wake up to the sight of you three girls. I heard the sound of a door falling, waking me out of my wonderful rest…" he paused. "When detonated, a Subspace Bomb removes the surrounding area from the world and deposits it into Subspace, leaving a dark void behind. The effect is additive; a larger area can be affected by causing multiple bombs to go off at once. You may speak now."

Ichigo tensed up, throwing her hands out to her sides. "Nyaaa! You're not making any sense! So if this bomb went off, shouldn't there be a big void somewhere? Where did it go off?"

"Patience, Ichigo," the man muttered wiping strands of his hair out of his eyes. "The bomb is a big, cloaked device that floats in mid air. As I said before, they are locked up in a reinforced cloaked cage located behind me. Look around you." He paused, throwing his hands up into the air. "I live here alone. Not a single soul stays with me to watch over this place. I have no one. And as such, I do not have tantrums and I am not weighed done by emotions. So it means nothing when I tell you this: The bomb got through my dimension because Ichigo knocked down my door."

"W-what's h-h-happening to me?!" Miwa shrieked as she brought her shaking hands up to her face. Her fingers were gone. Completely gone. A purple mist surrounded the place where her fingers should have been. Miwa frantically looked at the rest of her body, which now resembled holey cheese. Ichigo's eyes widened in fear as she ran up to her friend. Moe was paralyzed with fear, not knowing weather to run or help Miwa out. Ichigo placed her trembling hands above Miwa's shoulders, unsure of what she should do. The man sighed lethargically, as if nothing was really happening.

"Like I told you before—when you opened my door, the bomb was just—floating in-between both realms. Well… the wind from outside must have sucked it towards your dimension, hitting you and Moe when you both were walking ahead of Ichigo. I could care less what happens to you two, but you are slowly being removed piece by piece and deposited into my world. Soon, you will be Miwa no longer. I must say… meeting you all was fun while it lasted." Tears automatically started to fall from Ichigo's eyes. To which, the man quirked his nose.

"… I don't know what to do," Ichigo muttered, he tears crashing down from her cheeks and into the void. "We shouldn't have… it's all my fault…"

"Don't act like that now, Ichigo. You can bring her back. And Moe too, if you want. If they go outside the realm, they won't break apart." For the first time that day, Ichigo's pink eyes lit up with hope. How could she have let things get so out of hand? She let her guard down, and it almost cost her her friend's life. "But sadly, the particles from the bomb will stick onto their bodies, causing everyone—and everything that comes into contact with them to disappear. Subspace bombs are very tricky…"

Ichigo clenched her fists, he gaze stuck to the ground. "You…"

"I guess you have no choice but to kill them… It's either that, or you risk the lives of everyone else in your realm."

"What do you mean kill them?!" Ichigo shot. "I can't kill my friends! Just tell me what I need to do to make this all go back to normal! I know you know something!" she shouted, tears raining from her eyes. Moe walked to Ichigo, the deafening sound of her shoes making Ichigo turn around. Moe smiled a little, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. Half of her face was eaten by the purple mist, and half of her costume had dissipated. "No… no… Moe! I know what you're thinking! I can't do it! I'd never imagine that this was what was inside of the house! We're going to find a way through this I swear!"

"This is mostly my fault, Ichigo…" Moe said, through her smile. "I'm sorry I dragged you guys into this… but I'm almost certain that this is a dream, right? Subspaces aren't real, and ghosts aren't either. I've always wanted to be a hero, so why not… just for one dream, yeah?"

"…But it isn't a dream, Moe!" Ichigo yelled, tears flying from her face. "I… never told you what I had become yet. There were so many things I wanted to do with you! Like take longer walks in the park, go to the museum… just you, Miwa and me. I can't do that if… you're both dead!"

"Moe's got to be right, Ichigo-chan!" Miwa beamed, behind her tears. "Don't dreams usually end when you die? Well, when I wake up and go to school, I'm going to tell you all about this! This was a creepy dream." She paused, sniffing. "But if you've got to do this, then you've got to do this."

"But I never told you guys…" Ichigo murmured, choking on her tears. "That I'm a Mew Mew. That's right… I go each day hiding that I'm a Mew Mew from you guys… But now I realize that you were the main people that I should have told. I shouldn't have hidden it from you. I'm sorry." A deafening silence filled the room.

"Oh course you aren't, Ichigo!" Miwa chimed, making Ichigo's eyes light up with disappointment. "That would be impossible! Even more of a reason why this is a dream, right, Moe?" Moe laughed. Ichigo's gaze slowly cascaded to the ground. If only she had her team with her…

"I would really love to sleep again, but all this talk is just boring me…" the man said, cupping his head within his hands. "Remember Ichigo, you could stop the world from going poof if you kill them now. Or you can bring them back and risk everyones' lives. They are practically letting you do it. I mean, if I had a dime for every time someone told me to kill them of their own free will—"

"Stop it." Ichigo said, summoning her Strawberry Bell-Bell. "I'll do it." her voice cracked a bit as she looked towards Miwa, who was the closest to her. Even in her last moments, Miwa still managed to keep a smile on her face. Ichigo's eye started to twitch involuntarily. Maybe she was still happy because she thought none of it was real. Ichigo did not want to disappoint her friend. Miwa thought Ichigo was going to save her from a nightmare. Ichigo slowly, with quivering hands brought her Strawberry Bell-Bell up to Miwa's neck. "Miwa… I just want you to know that you're the best friend I've ever had…"

Ichigo's mouth went dry as the precipitation on her head dripped on the ground, the sound rippling throughout the Subspace. "Reborn…" she choked, closing her eyes and looking away from her friend. "Strawberry Check!"

The sound… the sound of Miwa's head exploding on impact made Ichigo's heart skips a couple of beats. Her skin instantly slunk down her skull and neck before everything underneath it boiled and burst from the heat of Ichigo's ray. Ichigo was covered in blood, and a slab of Miwa's cheek was stuck on her forehead. Miwa's body folded up—her knees buckled and she crashed onto the ground, blood from her neck pouring out of it. Ichigo opened her eyes and let out a shrill scream as she extended her arms towards her dead friend. A cold hand touched Ichigo's shoulder, which made her jump.

"This is a real scare, huh?" Moe said brashly. Ichigo nodded, her pink eyes piercing through Moe's skull. Ichigo forced a smile, scratching the back of her head.

"You said you wanted a scare," Ichigo chuckled, pointing her Strawberry Bell-Bell at Moe. "I hope you're happy, Moe."

"Oh, I am. This is the scariest thing I've ever seen! And I wouldn't have seen it without you, Ichigo! I'll see you later, huh?"

"Yeah." And with that, Ichigo's Strawberry Bell-Bell glowed a bright pink as Moe's body was mutilated. Blood sprayed from still pumping blood vessels as her body was cut vertically in half. The sound of her body hitting the ground was similar to someone clapping once. Slowly, Ichigo turned her head towards the man, who was almost half-asleep. "Tell me how to get back." she said, her voice faint. The man started to clap at what Ichigo achieved.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Ichigo. Once you were exposed to them, some of the Subspace Bomb got onto you. So you're infected as well," he cooed. "So… you can leave, but you will risk the lives of everyone around you. Your family _and the people you work with will be at risk."_

"You… You bastard! You planned this, didn't you?" Ichigo said, her voice cracking. She grinned a bit, her grip tightening on her Strawberry Bell-Bell.

"No… I want you to feel pain. To know pain. To breathe pain. To know the pain you put others through," he snickered. "You are humans… fraught to do something to protect what you call 'justice'. But when you call our vengeance 'justice', it only breeds more revenge, forging the first link in the chains of hatred, Ichigo. You have bound yourself… And now you will drown. Moe was right. I was dedicated to my role." the man paused, pulling off his face. However, it was not a face... It was a mask. Straight black hair fell from his head, and stopped around his legs. His pointy ears were now allowed to stick out. Ichigo cracked a smile.

Ichigo sighed before she dropped her Strawberry Bell-Bell on the ground. She could feel it eating at her—the mist that claimed both of her friends. It started from her hands, and eventually worked its way around her body. She closed her eyes, remembering everyone she was going to leave behind. The other Mews could save the world without her, right?

There was a flash of purple light before everything went dark.

Silence.

Pitch-black silence.

Deep Blue was standing outside of the house, looking over Ichigo, Miwa, and Moe's mutilated bodies that were lying on the grass. "Their minds were weak…" he muttered. "Now the world will be mine. And everything in it."

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**A/N:** I mean... there really isn't much to say, is it? XD I wrote a good portion of this in school. During math... and all of the other boring subjects I can't pay any attention to to save my life. XD This will probably be the last thing you'll get from me for a while (Nala!! XD I WILL GET YOUR BETA TO YOU I PROMISE. Don't give up on me, ya hear?)

Kimiko (that's my SLA English teacher. XD SLA stands for Studies in Language Arts, which is AP honers.) says things are going to start moving quick. Things are already moving quickly. Guess how many novels I read this week? TWO. GOD DAMNIT TWO. XD Not one in a half. Not three in four quarters... but TWO BIG EFFIN BOOKS. XD This chick hates me, and whining about it is only going to make her give me more work. XD

I'll just be kind of slower about things, but I'll still be here. Shrugging off homework like always. XD

I need to make more time for reading and stuff. XD

So here's my addition to the contest and I hope it places high because I spent time on this thing. XD It's my second cannon oneshot! Well... technically my first. XD I wrote the other one with KO! XD

And if anyone can tell me what "¡Voy a ganar esta competición!" means, you get a cookie. :3


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